To all who finished the game...

[Troyen]

I now read "ow ow ow" in all other games in Riley's voice.

"Whoops! Looks like that wasn't a healing spell!"

Probably my favorite line in the game.

[Beardy Bro]

i get,that to free Chalassa you must romance her ?
why not add possebility to free her even if you not,but have many hearts wow don't see the difference if you care much.rly.

[JerichoDeath]

What? No zombie yuri game!?

... anyway, that voice list was interesting because of the bit about critical hits were what caused them to say those lines in battle... I assume hitting the damage cap counts, since almost every spell I cast caused a voice line to be played. (such as Althea's Ice Spike always hitting damage cap every time she cast it)

As for my thoughts, I agree mostly with what the second poster said, and that's also why I really enjoyed ACT 3 most of all. It felt bigger somehow, given that you could travel around on a boat (*cue music*) and the loss of focus wasn't all that jarring to me. I mean, the whole game felt more like a prequel story to a group of legendary adventurers on how they first met, got together, and formed their bonds of friendship. As a yuri player, I'd love to see Chalassa riding around on Althea's shapeshifted wolf back in a forest somewhere, or Shea helping Riley in a pub with a performance of his, or or or! There's a lot of potential here, and as Jariel might say, there's much more to learn about this story. I, for one, would be more than happy to see more of these characters in the future.

(as a side note, major kudos to those that did the music for the game. I could leave the title screen up in the background just to listen to it... and I do sometimes.
On the other hand, there are several periods of odd silence in the game where it felt like there should be music playing, such as in battle.)

[Troyen]

(as a side note, major kudos to those that did the music for the game. I could leave the title screen up in the background just to listen to it... and I do sometimes.
On the other hand, there are several periods of odd silence in the game where it felt like there should be music playing, such as in battle.)

See! I told you I'm not going insane! The music just doesn't play sometimes, and I know it should because if I quit and come back later, I might get music on those scenes.

By the way, what OS are you running? Leading theory is this is an OS-specific bug.

[JerichoDeath]

(as a side note, major kudos to those that did the music for the game. I could leave the title screen up in the background just to listen to it... and I do sometimes.
On the other hand, there are several periods of odd silence in the game where it felt like there should be music playing, such as in battle.)

See! I told you I'm not going insane! The music just doesn't play sometimes, and I know it should because if I quit and come back later, I might get music on those scenes.

By the way, what OS are you running? Leading theory is this is an OS-specific bug.

I'm running Windows 7.

Also, when I leave those scenes and reload after restart, the music doesn't usually come on (there's a possibility that it will though). Although, I haven't really tested it too much.

[itsreal]

So about that wolf corpse that was found at the goblin camp in Act 1,

Spoiler:

was that Shea and Althea's mother?

[Taleweaver]

So about that wolf corpse that was found at the goblin camp in Act 1

Yup.

[Angra Jahika]

So I got to finish the game. Overall, I enjoyed it as much as Loren, if not a little more, which is saying something since Loren quickly became one of my favorite games ever. As a person with RPG experience, I liked that it was less of a VN, with a lot of gameplay/combat possibilities whilst still maintaining the story, character interaction and depth that I love to see. I did miss the 'camp talk' feature from Loren - especially since there were places in all acts where such a thing could have been carried out, not just in Act 3. I liked to converse with the party members in an order of my choosing rather than linearly, though the quality of the writing was such that I easily forgot about that little detail.

However, there was one actual disappointment/letdown for me, and that would be the ending, specifically the 'good' version of Chalassa's romantic ending. I can certainly understand why people asked for a happy alternative to the originally doomed romance, as Chalassa is my favourite character I would have probably requested for the same if I would have been there during the Beta. But..

Spoiler:

The way it was handled ruined her character for me :/. I saw Deceit's defeat as a way to grant Chalassa freedom from her bonds, not to change her personality completely, which is what the summary at the end suggested that happened. I was attracted to her for the same reason I liked Chambarra in Loren - she was the 'dark' character in the party. Her independence, ruthless efficiency, strength of mind, determination - standing in contrast with her ability of intense feeling for Althea (a person quite different from her) made their relationship very interesting and unique.

Unfortunately, all this changed when the 'happy' ending turned her into a light, sociable and friendly person who settles in Ninim and starts helping the people there. Now, I can see how the removal of what is practically a mind-dominating curse could cause someone to change into the opposite of what she was, I just disagree that Chalassa herself would, in particular, do that. She did not strike me as the woman who longed to be her complete opposite yet couldn't. She did not enjoy being forced to kill, yes, and would have certainly pursued Althea freely if she did not think that in the end their love would cause harm to her, and maybe she would have trusted some people and made some friends, but it's a long leap from there to what the summary says she became. And that, in my opinion, is not Chalassa. She is still at heart a survivor and a killer. She is still 'dark'. She is still the woman who would stab a poisoned dagger in the enemy's back and seductively whisper 'It hurts because I hit something important'. The freedom of action given by Deceit's death would only cause her to work in her own interests (and of those she cares about) instead of the demon lords. A significant thing? Most certainly. But it would not change the core of who she is, for she was never 'brainwashed' to begin with.

You may tell me I'm missing the point of the happy ending entirely, but this is how I feel about it. The ending just feels.. forced. I am still holding a sliver of hope that it is going to be modified somewhat, either in an update or in the DLC which I understand will feature her return. (Especially since in the former case, it would be very easy, with no risk of altering the game since it happens at the very end, but I disgress.) Unless that happens, I will have to agree with fabulaparva that the 'best' romantic ending is Althea killing Chalassa. It may be tragic, more so to those like myself for whom Chalassa is a favorite character, but at least it is fitting with the theme and flow of the character, which I consider very important in a story-driven RPG.

Anyway, sorry for dragging on. I did not talk about a lot of the things that I did enjoy, and they really were a lot. On a more positive note, I want to thank Jack and the writers/artists for making such beautiful games, and I am looking forward to playing the sequels to Loren when they come out, and spend more time in the world of Aravorn. :3

[jack1974]

Thank you for the nice words
Yeah probably the Chalassa's happy ending could be done a bit differently. I mean she could survive, but probably not transform herself completely like that. It can be changed later for sure.
Writer has just started working on the DLC which happens after they're back in Ninim, after they defeat the Grand Mogul but with some "forced changes" to make the DLC setup work (won't say what since I don't want to spoil the fun).
In it there can be two versions, one with Chalassa alive and another with her dead (another non-romanceable NPC will take her place to make a 8 people party). I hope that the new dialogues during the DLC will do Chalassa's character justice.
Indeed there are going to be specific extra lines based on which romance is active, and since Chalassa can be alive only if you romanced her, it will be interesting

[Angra Jahika]

Thank you for replying

That is great news, indeed. Maybe you can alter Chalassa's summary at the end of the original game only for those who have the DLC.

Knowing this, I guess I'm still going for the same ending on my next playthrough, which should happen pretty soon!